Gov. Kitzhaber and state legislators are thinking of new ways to diversify the state's revenue streams, which could include a new sales tax.

But Oregon has been down this road before. The state’s voters have been asked to impose a sales tax on themselves nine times since 1933; all nine measures have failed.

“Tax reform is part of this larger question of how we address growing income and wealth inequity, and frame it, not as a fight between the rich and the poor, but a more basic question of how do we ensure that the growing wealth of this economy is equitably shared among the people who are driving it,” Kitzhaber said. “The key is to frame it in a way that doesn’t create polarization but engages people in seeking an answer that will be beneficial to all of us in the long term. I think that’s impossible to do in the Beltway today. I think it’s still possible in the states.”